BEST Poppy Seed Salad Dressing - EASY Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe (2024)

An all-purpose dressing, this Poppy Seed Salad Dressing recipe is light and bright, perfect for summer salads!

Poppy Seed Dressing

This homemade salad dressing is actually a vinaigrette meaning that it is an emulsification of oil and an acid, in this case vinegar.

What is an emulsification? An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible- like oil and water based solutions. In order to mix, you need to mix them slowly and steadily at high agitation.

Most vinaigrette dressings will mix for a short time, but need to be re-shaken or stirred before using.

Why You’ll Love This Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

A tart and tangy salad dressing that tastes great on almost anything- what’s not to love?

• Versatile – While this is obviously delicious on a salad, this dressing can be used for other things too! Dip grilled chicken in it or use it to top fresh salmon.
• Easy to make – From start to finish, you will have this dressing ready in only 5 minutes and 3 simple steps.
• Loved by all – With simple flavors and the ability to change it up to personal preference, this is a dressing the whole family will love.

Ingredients

With simple ingredients, you can have this creamy poppyseed dressing ready to top all of your favorite tasty salads!

• White vinegar – I always have a bottle of white vinegar in the pantry. However, you could use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar is you prefer any of those.
• Brown sugar – Instead of using a white sugar to bring sweetness to this homemade poppy seed dressing recipe, I use brown sugar. I like the flavor it brings.
• Kosher salt – When making homemade dressing, I like to use Kosher salt. You can use the measurement provided, or add to taste to your liking.
• Dry ground mustard – Instead of using something like dijon mustard, I just use dry mustard. It’s always in my spice cabinet, therefor, always accessible.
• White onion – Just to add a little texture and flavor to this poppyseed salad dressing, I like to freshly grate a little onion into the mix. Red onions are a little too bold for my liking.
• Olive oil – So what makes this a creamy dressing? Something called emulsification. Olive oil is key to that, but you could also use vegetable oil or canola oil too if needed.
• Poppy seeds – The star of the show- poppy seeds! If you’re worried about failing a drug test, check the section below for all kinds of poppy seed info.

How to Make Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

You are going to love how easy it is to make one of your favorite salad dressings in your own kitchen!

1. Combine ingredients. In a blender or food processor, combine white vinegar, brown sugar, Kosher salt, dry mustard and white onion. Blend well.
2. Emulsify with olive oil. Add olive oil and blend until emulsified.
3. Add poppy seeds. Stir in poppy seeds by hand and serve.

How to Use Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

Poppy Seed salad dressing is an excellent choice for so many summer salads. You can use iton top of green salads or even my avocado crab or kale salad.

Any type of salad would taste great with this simple salad dressing, but my favorite salad to serve this on is strawberry spinach salad. It is so simple to make.

And you don’t have to stick to a vegetable salad or leafy greens.If you want to get crazy, you could even use it to top fresh fruit in a fruit salad.

Poppy Seeds

What are poppy seeds? They are tiny black balls that are the dried seeds from the opium poppy.

Of course the next question is… will they make me test positive for opiates?

And the answer is NO. Not unless you eat a ton of them and everyday or a long time. In fact, I used to work at a drug treatment program and we tested this out on ourselves using poppy seed bagels. It took over a week of eating heavily poppy seeded bagels every morning before we got even a faint positive.

So don’t worry, you won’t fail a drug test.

Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing

Make ahead: You can can this dressing ahead of time, but like most oil and vinegar blends, it will separate and need to be shaken well before serving.

Storage: Store any leftover dressing in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Freezing: Technically you can freeze it, but the consistency won’t be the same. You can freeze for up to four months.

Frequently Asked Questions

More homemade salad dressings:

• Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
• Homemade Ranch Dressing
• Greek Yogurt Salad Dressing
• Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• Dirty Martini Salad Dressing